


Sea Tea in the Rain

by SkyWrites



Series: The Great Detective Papyrus Mysteries! [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Conversations, Gen, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-30 01:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12642918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrites/pseuds/SkyWrites
Summary: She's back again after a long time away. She's not sure why. But she remembers the taste of sea tea. Maybe he can help.





	Sea Tea in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Written by Sky (who has his own [account,](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyWrites) check it!)
> 
> Takes place after [ this. ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9575243/chapters/21651074)

Rain poured.

Like it always did. Nothing changed.

Undyne stood outside a dusty old shop, the yellow glow of a lonely lamp highlighting her form just barely. Her clothes were drenched. She would never take an umbrella. She could hardly feel the rain anyway.

The streets were silent, dark and empty. It was late. She wasn’t sure how late. She wasn’t even sure how she got here. Her mind was fuzzy. She had been drinking again. She groaned and rapped her knuckles against the shop’s door, staring at the ‘closed’ sign. Couldn’t even be heard over the rain, she was sure. Probably better that way.

She gave it just a few seconds before realizing she was wasting her time. She was about to leave when that dusty old door creaked open, bells jingling.

“Wah hah hah!” A voice laughed, much too loud. It pierced her skull. “Well well! If it ain’t the ol’ Stick of Justice herself!”

Undyne didn’t even grace the old man with a smile. “Gerson,” her lone eye staring into his. His eye betrayed that smile like always. It was sharp, too sharp, and too familiar.

“Wah hah!” He continued, much to her dislike. “Come in, come in! It’s rainin’ cats n’ alligators out there! Even a fish like you’ll catch yer death out there if yer too cold!”

She didn’t know why she went inside. It was dusty, even a little moldy, and dark. Gerson held an old candle in a dingy little saucer, the flame showing off his warm smile. Still, the shop’s shadows danced in the dark, old antiques and relics of the past hiding nearby.

“Jesus, old man, don’t you have any electricity?” Undyne growled as she struggled to follow the turtle through his dimly lit shop. The windows let in a bit of rainy blue light, but not enough.

“Nope!” He replied, as if it were a thing to be proud of. He walked through the shops entrance and toward the back, to his home. “Forgot to pay the bill one too many times! Then, one day, I thought: ‘I been livin’ just fine without any electricity!’ and I decided I ain’t need it, none!”

She couldn’t see the vases or trinkets on the shelves as she went by. They were certainly filled with history and memories, she was sure, but she didn’t really care either. “Really,” she said back to him, incredulously. “You’ve been running a shop and living just fine without any electronics?”

“Bah!” Gerson waved a decrepit claw at the shadows, scaring it away. “Day time lights up the shop for free! I only accept cash, anyway! Candles give off such an interesting atmosphere, don’t they?” He laughed that hearty laugh of his again. “Sides, ain’t like my home gonna burn down in this rainy ol’ city!”

Undyne didn’t say anything. No use arguing with him, not like she had to live here. They were in the living room now, a bit better lit since several candles now stood haphazardly placed around. One near a raggedy old couch, one near the hallway towards the bathroom, and one atop of a table with an ancient radio. Somehow, through all the static and garble, she could make out one of Mettaton’s radio mysteries being played. It was a rerun.

Before she could ask, Gerson said, “Batteries!” He laughed again. It made Undyne feel weird. “Not like I hate electricity! Just too cheap to pay for it in the whole house!”

Again, she felt the urge to argue the cost of said batteries and candles. But, she knew she could never beat Gerson.

“Come on, now, sit!” He demanded with a smile, not quite forcing her. “These ol’ bones of mine don’t have time to be polite anymore!”

Her feet hurt anyway. She must have been walking around for quite some time. Undyne couldn’t help but break out a smile as she sat against the wrinkled leather couch. “Like you were ever polite,” she joked, surprised how easy it came.

“Wah hah hah!” This time it was genuine, truly. His crooked teeth formed a crooked smile that she was all too familiar with. “Nothin’ gets past you, eh detective? Not that you were ever any better! Always the little rebel, you were!”

It was nice. But she couldn’t keep it going. “Yeah,” she said, listening to Mettaton drone on and on about his character’s crippling addiction to sequin burgers.

Gerson’s smile faded, but not much. “Now, before I sit down, (takes me quite the time to get back up, mind you) you want anything? Crab apple, sea tea?” His one good eye stared too hard at her. His nostrils flared, and Undyne could practically see the dust spew out. “Although, you might prefer somethin’ a little stronger, eh?”

Undyne wasn’t sure Gerson knew she was a drinker. It wasn’t a tough question, though. It kept her warm, kept her thinking, kept her talking. Most people drank to run away from their problems, but it helped her face hers. She hoped. “Yeah,” she said finally.

He didn’t laugh this time, but his eye didn’t judge. Maybe it couldn’t anymore. “I don’t blame ya,” he said, shuffling over to a dimly lit table holding several glasses, some empty, some full. There was a light clattering as he reached for a bottle and poured the contents into one of the fuller glasses. The green liquid bubbled. “Sea tea just don’t always cut it, huh?” He laughed, now, although it was more of a low chuckle.

He returned and placed the drink into Undyne’s claw. He had one of his own. He sat back into an old recliner across from the couch, across from her, and let out a groan of relief. “Ahh. Shell’s getting’ heavier and heavier every day, I tell ya.”

A brief smile hit her lips, which she quickly hid behind the glass as she gulped its contents down. It was the old sea tea she always remembered, but it was strong, and strange. It burned her throat, and rose into her nostrils. Like a memory, but it was all wrong. Still, she embraced it. Maybe she’d actually speak, soon.

“You been doin all right by yourself, urchin?” He asked, his smile gone. Not that he was quite sad, or upset, merely he didn’t need to keep it up anymore. Undyne wouldn’t mind. His eyes fell on an old suit hanging on the wall. Light just barely hit it enough to reveal dirty old pinstripes. Looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.

“Yeah,” she said again. “Yeah, been doing pretty well, actually.” That sea tea seemed to already be working its magic on her. “Got a job. Livin’ at my girlfriend’s place now.”

“Wah hah!” Gerson placed his empty glass on a small table next to him. “I’ve heard! Of your job at least! Certainly never pegged you for a detective type! Always figured you for a fish that couldn’t find water! Wah hah!”

She chuckled this time. “Not that far off. To be honest, I’m not sure how I ended up there either.”

“Ah, now that’s the Stick of Justice I know!” Gerson nodded. “Can’t find water, but certainly able to stumble into it and fight anyone for it!”

Her arms felt warm. Her head was a little woozy, but it was okay. This was how she could finally think. Or maybe not think. Either way, it was okay. It was easier. She didn’t mind the darkness so much. For a while, they just sat in silence, listening to Mettaton explain his every action in excruciating detail.

The rain pattered against the windows. “Ya know, I always hated that Mettaton fella.” He paused. “Can’t stop listening to his darn radio stories though! Got me right hooked!” He paused again. “Pardon the pun.”

She did. “He’s a self-centered jerk, isn’t he?” She laughed. “Full of himself!”

Gerson laughed along with her, genuine again. “Full o’ somethin’ all right!”

Again, it felt nice. Being here again. Seeing him again. It wasn’t quite what she remembered, but it was all right. Still, it gnawed at her. Something gnawed at her. Guilt? Shame? She knew Gerson held no ill-will towards her, yet still, those feelings persisted.

His eye stared at the suit. Hers at the radio. “It was a good thing ya did, Undyne,” he said.

“I know.”

He shook his head, and looked at the empty glass. “I don’t blame ya,” he said again, quieter. “Shoulda done somethin’ myself.”

“You did,” Undyne said, staring at him now. “I wouldn’t have gotten suspicious if you didn’t leave first.”

He waved a shaky old arm at her. “Bah. All the good that did.”

“I overreacted.”

“Nothin’ new there!” He laughed. “I don’t blame ya. Ol’ Fluffybuns has a nicer place than mine, anyway. You were better off there.”

“I should have listened,” she sighed. Her words fell out of her like vomit, but it felt good. Felt good to get it out.

He waved off her words again. “Pah! And I shoulda actually spoke!” There was an anger in his voice, but it was not directed at her.

“Well, you spoke enough,” Undyne sighed. “Probably the exact right amount to get through my thick skull without making me completely lose my temper.”

“You’ve got more of a handle of your emotions than ya think, urchin.”

It was her turn to wave him off. “Sure, sure! That’s why I’m sitting here drunk at who-knows-what-hour!”

“Wah hah hah! Fair point!” He conceded. “2 AM, by the way, but not like beauty sleep is gonna help someone like me anymore!”

“You weren’t even sleeping at all, were you?”

He grinned. “Nope!” She wondered how much sea tea old Gerson has been drinking these days.

She was happy, but still, she sighed. The words were at the tip of her tongue. She wanted to say them, she was just unsure what they were.

“Are we better than him?” She finally said, swirling her new half-empty glass of sea tea, staring at the dark green ripples within. The words fell out of her. Stupid, barely given a second thought.

Gerson stayed silent. She heard another gulp of drink slide down his ancient gullet. “Depends.”

Not quite the answer she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear him say, “ _Of course we’re better than him! Wah hah hah! My little Stick of Justice did all she could, and I refused to be a part of it! We’re heroes, you and I! Never forget that!”_

It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but it’s what she expected to hear. The truth. That old turtle was as blunt as his hammer and as sharp as her spears. All this time, she was still afraid of it.

“Depends on what?” Undyne growled back, her words a strained whisper.

Gerson stared forward with that one good eye, mouth chiseled into a deep frown, as if his stony features could never form a smile, never had and never would. “Depends who we’re talkin’ about. You or I. Depends on a lotta things.” His eye seemed to glow in the dark now, staring deep into hers. She met his gaze, gladly. “You kill any kids, urchin?”

Just like that, huh. The words seemed so easy to him. She wondered how that could be. Maybe the booze, maybe the time of night, maybe his age, maybe he was just stronger than her. She remembered why she respected Gerson so much.

“No,” Undyne said honestly. “I think I tried to, though.”

Gerson asked again. “Did you kill the kid, though?”

Somehow, she faltered. Undyne knew she hadn’t killed that little brat, she knew it. Still, why was it difficult to answer? “I didn’t.”

“How bad ya hurt it?”

Again, she knew the answer to this, and again, she faltered pathetically. “Don’t think I hurt it too bad. But…” she stared at her tea again, lost in its waves, listening to the rain fall. “I tried, I think. I don’t know. Maybe I wanted to. Maybe I wanted to kill it.”

Gerson grunted. “But ya didn’t.”

Undyne growled now, anger bubbling up inside. “I wanted to squash the little brat! I wanted to tear it apart for insulting me!”

He didn’t react in the slightest. “But ya didn’t.”

“Stubborn old man,” Undyne said through grit fangs.

“Maybe it was luck. Maybe you woulda killed the kid had things gone differently,” Gerson said tonelessly. “Maybe that thing inside you is real, and maybe you have it in you to do something terrible.”

Undyne found herself clenching her fists.

“But ya didn’t do it yet. Asgore did.”

She resisted the urge to smash her glass into a million tiny pieces. “And that makes me better than him!? That makes me a hero!?”

Gerson took a swig of his tea. “Makes ya a little better than him, at least. Maybe not enough. Maybe not even a hero.”

She lessoned the grip on her drink, her breath dying down ever so slightly.

“All depends, too. On what ya call killin’ and what you don’t.”

Undyne returned her gaze to his, found he probably hadn’t moved a muscle. “What do you mean?”

“Complacency,” Gerson said. “Ya knew somethin’ was goin on, didn’t ya?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Ya knew kids were dying, didn’t ya? But you didn’t stop it. Coulda done something sooner, maybe, coulda saved a few more kids.”

Undyne nodded.

“Well…” Gerson took another drink. “I can at least tell ya one thing for certain, urchin. You’re better than me.”

She stayed silent. His eye felt weaker, older, glossier, now.

“You don’t have to think you’re a hero,” Gerson said. “You might not even be one at all. But, for what it’s worth, this pathetic old man thinks you’re one.”

And for a moment, she saw Asgore sitting before her. Old and guilty and full of sadness. Nothing she could do or say would change that. But the important thing was that he wasn’t Asgore. That brief moment was just that, a brief moment.

“Think I could crash on your couch for the night, gramps?” Undyne said.

As if he were never a stone statue before, Gerson smiled. “Of course, ya little urchin. You stay as long as ya like.” His chair creaked and whined as he stood up, candle light flickering in his dried and scaly claws.

“You’ll have to get electricity in this dump if you want me staying any longer,” Undyne laughed quietly.

His flame lit the darkness just a little as he walked through the doorway to his room. “Maybe I will after all, Undyne. Good night.”


End file.
